Eggnog and Mistletoe
by forensicsfan
Summary: A coffee run turns into an invitation to Christmas. NS friendship with potential.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from the, but if I ever get the chance, coffee is on me.

**Author's Note:** This is in response to my Eggnog Challenge.

* * *

"Eggnog, gingerbread, peppermint; whatever happened to a regular run of the mill latte?" Sara Sidle scrunched her nose up as she surveyed the menu at the Starbucks down the street from the lab. She and Nick Stokes were on a coffee run on Christmas Eve in an attempt to spread a little holiday cheer to their work weary coworkers, but it seemed that she was in need of a little cheer herself. 

"Don't forget the reindeer latte." Nick clearly had a smirk on his face as he suggested the idea that was most certainly _not_ on the menu.

Sara glanced over her shoulder at him and let out a sort of snorfle. "Reindeer latte? What have you been drinking?" She appreciated his attempt to help her lighten up. Things lately had been anything but fun. After years of trying to capture his attention, Grissom had finally consented to be in a relationship with her; albeit a secret relationship. Then several weeks ago, he announced to the team that he was taking a sabbatical of an undetermined length to teach on the East Coast; something that he'd failed to inform her about prior to the staff meeting. To say that she was pissed as hell at him was an understatement and she made that abundantly clear to Grissom when she'd told him in no uncertain terms that their relationship was over. Of course since no one else even knew about the romantic nature of their relationship in the first place, it wasn't as if she could expect any shoulders to cry on about the whole ordeal.

"Apparently too much dayshift coffee." Nick responded with a good natured smile. He was fully aware of his beautiful coworker's preoccupation with their boss, but he was somewhat surprised that she hadn't been more vocal about his leaving, something he took as a sign that maybe just maybe she might finally be over the bug man.

"Well it's a good thing we're here then; in fact we ought to pick up some extra coffee just to make sure you don't drink anymore of that swill; I think it's affecting yout ability to think." Sara's smirk was playful as she plucked a bag of Ethiopian Sidamo, two bags of Christmas Blend, and a bag of Sulawesi off of the shelf and took another step forward in line.

"Well maybe I should drink it more often if it means that Sara Sidle is springing for coffee." He winked at her, they both knew that Grissom had built in a budget for real coffee, and since Catherine had assumed his leadership role, she was more than for good coffee, she insisted upon it so everyone on the night shift could function, in fact it was she that had sent them to Starbucks in the first place.

Sara laughed and then as she noticed some of the holiday themed gifts she furrowed her brow. "Maybe I should pick up a few things...I didn't exactly finish my Christmas shopping." Truth was she'd been so busy throwing herself into work since Grissom left that she hadn't had time to much more than sleep in her off time.

"Nothing like waiting till the last minute." Nick had finished his shopping weeks ago, but that was mostly because he had to ship so many package to Dallas and he hadn't wanted to pay extra to send them overnight.

"Some of us have been working hard." Sara tried to hold a serious face; he'd pulled just as much overtime as she had, but he'd still managed to shop. Of course, he wasn't trying to get over Gil Grissom either and as far as she knew, he hadn't dated or broken up with anyone recently so clearly she was at the disadvantage her.

Nick let out a laugh. "And some of us know when it's time to go home and have a life too." His tone softened toward the end of his comment; he meant what he said, she worked way too hard and seemed to never talk about what she did outside of work besides taking in the occasional movie or getting a drink with he and Warrick after a particularly difficult case had been closed. She needed to find out that there was life outside the lab and that even Sara Sidle could let loose and have a good time if she'd only let herself.

"I have a life." Sara protested as they took another step forward in the line. Not that she could tell him about the life that she'd been living for the last several months with Grissom; now that it was over it was a moot point anyway.

Nick quirked a single brow her direction. "But you haven't had time to finish your Christmas shopping." He was gently calling her bluff.

"Well if I bought all of my gifts online, I'd be done by now too." She knew that there was no way he had bought all of those presents for his nieces and nephews that he went on and on about _and_ shipped them working the hours that they did unless he'd started right after last Christmas.

A guilty look flashed across Nick's face. "Ok, you got me there." They were almost to the front of the line now and he reasoned that now was as good a time as any to see if she had plans for after shift since by then it would be Christmas Day.

The subject was temporarily dropped as Sara ordered a variety of lattés for the nightshift crew and paid for those and the bags of coffee. Once they were settled back in the Denali with the coffees secured, Nick glanced over at her and smiled. "You have plans for Christmas?"

Sara felt a stab of hurt for a moment as she considered that months ago she thought she'd have plans on Christmas, but with Grissom gone to the other side of the country, she really didn't have any plans at all. "Uh, no...I was just going to try and catch up on some sleep."

"The hell you are." Nick let out an unbelieving laugh. "I'm having a few people over; you're gonna come too. It's Christmas and there is no reason for you to sleep through it." He hoped that she wouldn't be stubborn and bail out. To his relief, he saw a hint of a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.

"I suppose I could sleep later." Sara was genuinely grateful for the invitation; she hadn't relished the idea of going home alone on one of the loneliest holidays of the year for unattached single people; especially unattached single people with no family. The holiday seemed to underscore exactly how alone she felt.

"Good." A grin broke out across Nick's face. "Greg's coming and I think Warrick was going to bring Tina by for a while, I'm not sure about Catherine though, and I think there's going to be a few others." He was genuinely glad that she had agreed to come. She needed to see that sitting at home alone after a long and tedious shift was definitely _not_ the way to go; especially during the holidays.

"Ok." She smiled at him, finally feeling a bit of the warmth the holidays had to offer seeping into her heart. Just because Grissom had chosen to leave did not mean that she had to sit at home and feel sorry for herself; she had friends that had become a sort of surrogate family to her and Nick's invitation had been a very real reminder of that.

"But I'll warn you, Greg threatened to bring some mistletoe and hang it up when I wasn't looking, so don't blame me if he corners you." Nick grinned at her mischievously.

"Thanks for the warning." She let out something that could definitely be considered a giggle.

"Course, I may just have to take advantage of the situation if I find you there myself." He winked at her teasingly, hoping that she wasn't taking him too seriously, but deep down meaning every word of it.

"Well if I find myself anywhere near the mistletoe, I'll just make sure I'm standing next to you." She winked back at him, part of her teasing him in return and part of her hoping that they really would find themselves underneath the mistletoe; that maybe this might just be a new beginning.

_**The End**_


End file.
